An engine-driven generator, commonly referred to as a genset or a genset power system, is the combination of an engine (such as a diesel-powered or gas-powered internal combustion engine) with a generator (such as an alternator) to generate electrical power. That is, the engine may generate a mechanical power output, and the generator may be coupled to the engine to convert at least a portion of the mechanical power output to electrical power. According to an example, a diesel internal combustion engine may provide the mechanical power output in a genset, and may be designed to run on conventional fuels, or may be adapted for use with other liquid fuels or natural gas. Gensets may be used for prime, continuous, or standby power, and may be implemented in various applications, including applications using single gensets and applications using a plurality of gensets, such as to provide redundancy and/or load sharing.
Excessive loading, and/or other undesirable operating conditions, of a genset can cause vibrations, which may result in undesirable effects on components of the genset. For example, excessive loading may cause premature wear or failure of genset components, which may result in unplanned downtime for the genset. Thus, to optimize operation thereof, it may be desirable to accurately and effectively detect or predict the occurrence of various abnormal operating conditions of the genset, which may result in undesirable effects on genset components, such that actions may be taken to reduce the undesirable effects on the genset.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,994,359 to Neti et al. (hereinafter “Neti”) discloses a method of detecting faults in a wind turbine generator based on current signature analysis. In particular, electrical signals representative of operating conditions of the wind turbine generator are processed to generate a normalized spectrum of electrical signals. A fault related to a generator component is detected by analyzing the normalized spectrum.